First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $2,325.00 target price on First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Raymond James Financial upgraded First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $2,100.00 to $2,200.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,300.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,050.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,238.27.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

FCNCA opened at $1,990.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2,117.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,949.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. First Citizens BancShares has a 52-week low of $1,473.62 and a 52-week high of $2,232.21.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The bank reported $51.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $44.24 by $7.03. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 15.21% and a return on equity of 11.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other First Citizens BancShares news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1,629.67 per share, for a total transaction of $220,005.45. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 2,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,118,176.09. The trade was a 5.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FCNCA. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 6,497 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,944,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. Seldon Capital LP boosted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Seldon Capital LP now owns 2,698 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,790,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,319 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,319 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,831,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

First Citizens BancShares, Inc is the bank holding company for First Citizens Bank, a full‑service commercial bank headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company traces its roots to a community bank founded in 1898 and has grown into a diversified financial services organization that operates through its banking subsidiary to serve retail, commercial and institutional clients.

First Citizens offers a broad suite of banking products and services, including consumer and business deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate and mortgage lending, treasury and cash management, and specialized lending solutions.